Posted on 11/24/2004 7:19:53 AM PST by DTaggart
If America's secular liberals think they have it rough now, just wait till the Second Coming.
The "Left Behind" series, the best-selling novels for adults in the U.S., enthusiastically depict Jesus returning to slaughter everyone who is not a born-again Christian. The world's Hindus, Muslims, Jews and agnostics, along with many Catholics and Unitarians, are heaved into everlasting fire: "Jesus merely raised one hand a few inches and . . . they tumbled in, howling and screeching."
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Gosh, what an uplifting scene!
If Saudi Arabians wrote an Islamic version of this series, we would furiously demand that sensible Muslims repudiate such hatemongering. We should hold ourselves to the same standard.
Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, the co-authors of the series, have both e-mailed me (after I wrote about the "Left Behind" series in July) to protest that their books do not "celebrate" the slaughter of non-Christians but simply present the painful reality of Scripture.
"We can't read it some other way just because it sounds exclusivistic and not currently politically correct," Mr. Jenkins said in an e-mail. "That's our crucible, an offensive and divisive message in an age of plurality and tolerance."
Silly me. I'd forgotten the passage in the Bible about how Jesus intends to roast everyone from the good Samaritan to Gandhi in everlasting fire, simply because they weren't born-again Christians.
I accept that Mr. Jenkins and Mr. LaHaye are sincere. (They base their conclusions on John 3.) But I've sat down in Pakistani and Iraqi mosques with Muslim fundamentalists, and they offered the same defense: they're just applying God's word.
Now, I've often written that blue staters should be less snooty toward fundamentalist Christians, and I realize that this column will seem pretty snooty. But if I praise the good work of evangelicals - like their superb relief efforts in Darfur - I'll also condemn what I perceive as bigotry. A dialogue about faith must move past taboos and discuss differences bluntly. That's what blue staters and red staters need to do about religion and the "Left Behind" books.
For starters, it's worth pointing out that those predicting an apocalypse have a long and lousy record. In America, tens of thousands of followers of William Miller waited eagerly for Jesus to reappear on Oct. 22, 1844. Some of these Millerites had given away all their belongings, and the no-show was called the Great Disappointment.
In more recent times, the best-selling nonfiction book of the 1970's was Hal Lindsey's "The Late Great Planet Earth," selling 18 million copies worldwide with its predictions of a Second Coming. Then, one of the hottest best sellers in 1988 was a booklet called "88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988." Oops.
Being wrong has rarely been so lucrative.
Now we have the hugely profitable "Left Behind" financial empire, whose Web site flatly says that the authors "think this generation will witness the end of history." The site sells every "Left Behind" spinoff imaginable, including screen savers, regular prophecies sent to your mobile phone, children's versions of the books, audiobooks, graphic novels, videos, calendars, music and a $6.50-a-month prophesy club. This isn't religion, this is brand management.
If Mr. LaHaye and Mr. Jenkins honestly believe that the end of the world may be imminent, why not waive royalties? Why don't they use the millions of dollars in profits to help the poor - and increase their own chances of getting into heaven?
Mr. Jenkins told me that he gives 20 to 40 percent of his income to charity, and that's commendable. But there are millions more where that came from. Mr. LaHaye and Mr. Jenkins might spend less time puzzling over obscure passages in the Book of Revelation and more time with the straightforward language of Matthew 6:19, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth." Or Matthew 19:21, where Jesus advises a rich man: "Sell your possessions and give the money to the poor. . . . It will be hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
So I challenge the authors to a bet: if the events of the Apocalypse arrive in the next 10 years, then I'll donate $500 to the battle against the Antichrist; if it doesn't, you donate $500 to a charity of my choosing that fights poverty - and bigotry.
Gentlemen, do we have a deal?
Your opinion...
Jews have always been suspicious of Christianity as being a throwback to politheism...
And this for the last 1800 years!
Sorry for the hiccup...
one
knows
the time or the place
not even Christ;
ONLY THE FATHER KNOWS
These people are charlatans - the Jimmy Swaggerts of Barnes and Noble.
Ahh, an oldie but goodie from the dunce who helped falsely accused Steve Hatfill of being the anthrax mailer.
It's a BRAND and they are into brand management, that's all. The also figured out that a single book wouldn't do, so they created a poorly written series that goes on and on, stimulated by good packaging, advertising and millions of credulous readers and the bucks roll in. Whatta concept! When someone invents a new brand, we all wish we had been there at the creation--with a share of the profits, of course.
Let me ask this - do you think there ever will be a Second Coming of Christ? I agree there has been a lot of hype in past years, but all one needs to look at are the events in the Middle East to know something is going on.
The Jews did not return to Israel until 1948, that was the missing piece in many pre-1948 end time scenarios.
I would never claim to know what the future will bring, but I am Catholic and know He will return at some point. The Bible says that no one will know exactly when, but there will be signs. Personally, I feel something is going to happen soon, but that means nothing to anyone else.
Do you believe in Revelations entirely or just certain parts? If so, what parts.
"Baa Baa!"
Ummm...that describes the sound that both animals make.
Suspicion I can deal with, given the sometimes clumsy way Christians deal with the concept of the Trinity and given the persecution of the Jewish people for the last 1800 years by professing Christians. But when dealing with Evangelicals or Messianics who believe that Israel is still God's chosen nation, and who are discovering the richness of the Scriptures, both the Tanakh and the New Testament, when illuminated by the light of the Jewish culture that God established through Moshe, and who repudiate and condemn all of the persecution done against the Jewish people in Yeshua's (Jesus') name, you really don't have to be disagreeable just because we disagree on the Messiah's identity.
"Why don't they use the millions of dollars in profits to help the poor - and increase their own chances of getting into heaven?"
That would be equating works with righteousness instead of faith alone being sufficient for righteousness. The simple answer is they don't believe that works increase their chances of getting into heaven. Faith is all that's needed.
Did you read the start of the thread? These evangelicals believe that Jews will be sent to Hell... This is why most Israelis (and most Jews) are very suspicious of them... It's not ahavat Israel you see here!
Some say that the only real Jews are the ones that converted to Christianity... (Met some...)
Some do discover the Tanakh, but very few... Generally they love to say where we Jews do not understand our own scriptures...
The way to get respect is to respect others... I haven't seen a respect for Judaism and its millenia-old traditions in most evangelists...
Gee you sound like like like -- one of them PHARISEES -- who thought salvation applied only -- to THEM.
Woops, Christ engaged a PAGAN Roman Soldier and praised his faith? Paul preached to GENTILES? Of course not! God's condeming all of them!
I guess I'm just one of them rosary-swingin' papists going to hell because a couple-a "Christians" figured out they could sell books by pushing cotton-candy theology in a series of books destined for garage sales across this great land.
Forget not the publican in the temple... he will be in heaven quicker than any of us.
Our family homeschool and we just read Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday. What a book!!!!!!
I had read and loved the Chronicles of Narnia from my childhood and was thrilled to re-read those with my own children. I had never read the Space Trilogy before last year. I'm not a Sci-fi fan, but found I enjoyed those, too, as did my son.
I see... You don't get it...
That sentence says more than the whole screed..
My opinion is this sentence displays "the blindness"..
Since Jesus came to make ALL religions obsolete, and DID..
You evidently overlook the heinous disease religion has been to mankind.. ALL OF THEM.. and yet seem to reject the very one that saved many from them.. What would a REAL god even need with a religion.?.. yours OR mine.. What is a religion but an organization that takes the place of God, a business really.?.
There are many "Gods" in this world.. all of them mental constructs.. Jesus spoke in metaphors(parables) mostly.. You might not understand any of them.. I don't understand them all either, completely..
Like some atheists say, "If there is no God then there ought to be one"... Thats the least arrogant of them anyway.. But the sentence above.. is the base of some socialists world and of course socialism "IS" slavery to government.. If a socialist had any sense he/she wouldn't be a socialist..
"Having glanced at a couple in a bookstore they actually manage to be more poorly-written than the DaVinci Code,"
Much more poorly-written. I read the first three books of the series, just to see if they'd be interesting. The characters were completely wooden, the dialog was unbelievable. The plot was absolutely transparent.
No, thanks.
Does this article have a source?
"Like some atheists say, "If there is no God then there ought to be one"... "
Hmm...don't think I've ever heard an atheist say that.
I've sure heard a lot of them say that human societies need gods to reinforce the rules of society and to explain what is unexplainable to that society. So, they invent the ones that work for their society.
That's my view, as well.
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